Do I NEED gauges??

[argve]

Looks like you were the one who made the "chip" suggestion .
I was watching this thread all day but I didn't have time to respond until now.
Firstly, gauges do nothing to add performance. They don't do nothing for power, mileage, or speed. the better analogy is gauges are like a first-aid kit. Not critical to have but provides peace of mind. What they do is provide the driver additional information on what's going on under the hood. But they are only good if the driver is routinely scanning the info. I'll be the first to admit I flog my truck hard. Feul is turned up, Intake and exhaust is opened up and operator has a binary foot. the only gauges that work in my trucks are the tach and the speedo/odo. I do have the cig lighter plug in LED voltmeter and that's basically about it. I was in the truck for 10 years and personally have logged 730k(it already had 150k on it when I bought it) and I can pretty much tell how happy the goings on are under the hood. the oil, water, volt and feul gauges/feelgood idiot lights have long expired and I don't miss them. I don't have pyro, or any other aftermarket gauge. Am I flirting with disaster? You Bet. But when you know your truck better than your wife, you will pick up on its issues. Just pay attention to them.
Secondly, Gildo and any other PSD jockey, this is for you. We basment dwellers enjoy vistors from upstairs. But keep in mind, very little of the tech applies to our neanderthal motors. We know who is a former IDI owner and who aren't. the moment anybody mentions the word "chip" (silica kind not the potatoe) and IDI's, the speaker's credibility drops like a rock. Please don't take offense to it, but it immeadiately tells us you don't know enough about our trucks to have "weight" behind your suggestions. But don't get us wrong, it doesn't mean we IDI'ers "hate" you, in fact guys like NJken and Genoc are well respected still even though they have went to the darkside. There are others too but these two guys have been beat up enough by us over the years due to their choice. :draw But we still do look to their words of wisdom . If you still think the basement of neanderthal nutjobs is a cool group to hang out with, have a cold one and watch how we kick each other's teeth into the weeds. Some of us live to really push threads OT.
OK....step down from soapbox......

Poop stirrer :draw ;p

 

[towcat]

Poop stirrer :draw ;p

coming from a goat, i take that as a compliment

 

[Agnem]

Will Gildo be the new replacement for B1 ? Once can only hope.

 

[argve]

Will Gildo be the new replacement for B1 ? Once can only hope.

Dang it and I was wanting to be that.... even bought the truck to do it with... :draw

 

[budtoh3zo]

Thats right not much is the same as the PSD the IDI's cant handle the temps a psd can

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Get the guages just because They Look so Darn COOL!

No chip is needed,.....

 

[budtoh3zo]

That is a good job Darrin.

 

[argve]

Get the guages just because They Look so Darn COOL!

No chip is needed,.....

Darrin,

Where's your hood? Did you cut it off.

 

[towcat]

A possible eplaination why PSD's don't need pyros.

Friday afternoon I ran into Jerrod, one of the fleet mechs at a shop next door to me. To put a truck with the name, if you been to a SFbay area INO run, he's the one with the jacked up/hopped up Excursion. Anyhow, I was talking to him about some of the darkside boys having an aversion to gauges and more specifically pyro's. His comments was most enlightening. Before he opened up his downpipe and exhaust and putting in a new intake, he was seeing 1100 with a chipped motor on heavy acceleration. After the intake and exh mod, his temps dropped to 800 with the same heavy foot. Better breathability/lower temps. Bottom line is if we had our knuckledraggers in Gildo's world, it would make no sense to put a pyro at the top of the list. A simple intake/exh mod would have no ill effects. Problem is, most of us who go that far will undobtedly have played a few flats on the feul screw. That's where the trouble really begins.

 

[bikepilot]

For reference, I took my first drive with gauges installed (truck is otherwise stock) last saturday. I was towing a 2k lbs 20' enclosed trailer with 3 dirt bikes and some gear in it. Figure 3k lbs total trailer weight and pushing some wind (its pretty tall).

I had about a 100 mile drive each way in moderately hilly terrian - no super long, super steep grades, but just the typical stuff in the VA blue ridge mountians. I saw 1100°F on they pyro with the peddle most of the way down at ~2300 rpm. I suspect that a really long pull could have caused the etg's to creep into the danger zone pretty easily.

So botom line, a stock truck can push some pretty scary EGT's - a pyro is probably a wise purchase and necessary if you want to turn up the fuel/boost.

 

[Snowman671]

Ok now you guys are freaking me out....

i have stock truck with exception of the tires and wheels. No turbo and I have no guages, I have a 30' trailer to pull that weighs in at 6500 lbs.. and I want to pull it with my truck .. I bought the truck to do work and play. I have a EZ-Dump bed installed in it now. and I am worried I need to get guages. and I need to findout what the "SAFE ZONES" are on all the temps.. OIL , WATER, EXHAUST ETC..

Can anyoen help here.. I will go buy guages tonight if i need them but unless I know where to start from im lost. helll it might alredy be runnig warm for some reason and I dont know it.

Anyone got a good base line ?

Dave

 

[bikepilot]

Your pyro temp will vary proportionally with your right foot position in my experience.

In general its recommended to stay below 1100°F for continuous pulling. You can spike higher than that for short amounts of time I suppose.

I wouldn't worry too much about oil and water temps - the temp gauge on the dash will give you some idea as to water temp (I know its not great, but its something) and you'll hear the fan clutch grab hard when the temps get pretty high - if it stays engaged for very long you have a problem

If you have an auto trans it would be a good idea to keep an eye on its temp. Mine seems to peak around 180°F towing my trailer on a 70°F day in mild mountains.

 

[pafixitman]

Dave,
I agree w/ bikepilot. 1100* max on the pyro is a good rule of thumb. My numbers are:

6.5 lbs max boost
650 - 1150* egt
120 - 180* tranny temp
8 - 15 volts (8 w/ working glow plugs when starting )
25 - 40 lbs on oil pressure (idle versus moving)
180* on water temp (just hooked it up, time will tell)

Go to webshots and search pafixitman. You will find some shots of my gauges. I have 3 on the pillar and 3 above the radio. Better yet, head over to Gettysburg Campground or Kaufman's in Dillsburg the last weekend in April. You can meet the local IDI godfather himself (Agnem) and just maybe get your truck timed...

 

[sassyrel]

get the gauges--before you go and crank the fuel screw-or youll be looking for a new engine

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Anyone wonder why Banks, ATS & Hypermax include the Pyro in their kits????
And Ford decided it was unneccesary?